---
title: "Keeping POP Email in the Remote Inbox"
slug: "keeping-pop-email-in-the-remote-inbox"
updated: 2026-10-30T21:01:19Z
published: 2026-10-30T21:01:19Z
canonical: "docs.interprose.com/keeping-pop-email-in-the-remote-inbox"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.interprose.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Keeping POP Email in the Remote Inbox

## Overview

Use the **Pops Email from Remote Server** job task setting to control whether ACE requests deletion of retrieved email from the remote inbox.

## What Controls Email Deletion

The task has a setting named **POP3: Delete emails after read**. When enabled, the task requests deletion after retrieving and handling each message. A mailbox preference to keep messages is not enough if this ACE option remains enabled.

## Keep Messages in the Inbox

1. Navigate to **Utilities → Jobs** and open the job task used to retrieve the mailbox’s email.
2. Find **POP3: Delete emails after read** and leave it unchecked if ACE should retain retrieved messages.
3. Save the task configuration. Also check the mail server’s retention rules and other mail applications that access the inbox.
4. Use a test mailbox to check the next retrieval. Confirm both the ACE processing result and whether the messages remain in the remote inbox.

## Retrieved and Processed Counts

A retrieved message is not always a newly processed message. ACE checks message IDs to recognize email it already has. Leaving messages in the inbox does not mean ACE will import each one again.

When the delete option is enabled, ACE can request deletion even when a retrieved message is already known and does not increase the newly processed count.

> [!NOTE]
> Please Note
> 
> Changing this setting does not restore messages already deleted. Other mail clients or server rules can also remove messages.

For more information about jobs and tasks, see [About Jobs](https://docs.interprose.com/docs/about-jobs).